MILAN - Stellantis shareholders on Thursday approved the compensation package for the car maker's top management, including for CEO Carlos Tavares, after rejecting it last year.
In a consultative-only vote, around 80 percent of Stellantis shareholders voted in favor of the 2022 executive remuneration report for senior managers at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the world's third largest carmaker.
Total remuneration for Tavares, including long-term incentives which might not necessarily turn in full into a payment, amounted last year to around 23.5 million euros ($25.6 million), higher than 19.2 million euros in 2021.
The amount, based on Stellantis' record results last year, is made up 91 percent of variable remuneration components, including 11.6 million euros in long-term incentives, the group has said.
Chariman John Elkann, the scion of Italy's Agnelli family which is Stellantis largest single shareholder through its Exor holding company, welcomed the "largely positive" vote.
"Our remuneration report reflects our believes of rewarding performance based on the achievement of ambitious goals, both financial and ESG related objectives," he said.
Stellantis has said the actual compensation its CEO received for last year fell 13 percent compared to 2021 to 14.9 million euros.
The vote came after investors rejected Stellantis' executive remuneration for 2021, the first year of life for the carmaker formed through the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA.
Back then Tavares' remuneration, one of the highest among CEOs in the automotive industry, had prompted strong criticism from trade unions and politicians, especially in France, at a time when the country was in the mid of a campaign for presidential elections dominated by a cost-of-living crisis.
In response to last year's vote and based on later feedbacks from shareholders, Stellantis introduced changes to its remuneration policy and to its disclosure practices.
Ford CEO James Farley earned a total of around $21 million last year, down from almost $23 million in 2021, while compensations were far smaller in Europe. Compensations for last year amounted to 4.5 million euros for Renault's CEO and 7.4 million euros for Volkswagen's CEO.
